That is because it is an FQHC. Not sure about everywhere, but the one here is pathetic. It is only there so the CEO can buy as many practices and build an empire. He is losing because the local hospital system is out buying them.
I imagine anything that an FQHC came up with (read government came up with) would be horrible. Going back 12 years, a product called Certified Mail had a beautifully constructed HIPAA compliant program. It is the type that most hospitals use where your email goes to a secure server, and the recipient only gets a message that the email is there. With CM, if you were a new recipient, the message came with your email address ALREADY IN THE USERNAME FILED FOR YOU. Below that was a create password field and a confirm password field. Hit enter and it brings you back to the same screen with the email already entered. You type in your password, and it takes you to a screen with all of the emails that you have on the server, much like looking at a Yahoo or Gmail site only much cleaner. You can reply for free. You could download the attachment right there.
Currently, so we don't have to print out 300 pp, we combine to a pdf (as I am sure many people do). We then have to either fax it using Windows Fax and Scan which isn't 100% reliable, i.e. you may have to send again or burn to a disc and mail. So, total cost is for the CD, the envelope packet and the stamps and the time of the person putting it all together. That is still going to be around $2.50.
To be able to make the pdf and simply email it, is much more efficient. You would obviously keep the pdf somewhere on your server, but you would also have a copy in the cloud with a receipt and, thus, proof that the other office received the record. So, you can combat their 2nd Request and 3rd Request, etc.
I think a lot of us ignore the records until we need them some time. And, when the next office wants records, it's nice to send the entire record.
